Nigeria to shun trade with Myanmar,

Agence France Presse
August 25, 1999
Nigeria to shun trade with Myanmar, other undemocratic regimes
Lagos, Aug 25. Nigeria has served notice to Myanmar and other states that
"are not democratic in nature" that it will no longer do business with
them, The Guardian newspaper reported Wednesday.
Deputy Foreign Minister Dubem Onyia told Khan Maung Win, an envoy of
Myanmar's military junta, that "it would be immoral for Nigeria to do any
legal business with a government that is not democratic in nature," the
paper said.
Nigeria returned to civilian rule in May this year after more than 15 years
of military rule during which the west African giant became an
international pariah because of an appalling human rights record.
Olusegun Obasanjo, himself a former military head of state, became only the
third civilian president since independence in 1960.
Onyia said Myanmar should "do everything possible within the shortest
possible time to return to democracy."
The envoy, who bore a message to Obasanjo, had sought closer bilateral ties
in the spirit of South-South cooperation.
The international community has shunned Myanmar because of widespread
allegations of gross human rights abuses and Yangon's refusal to recognise
1990 elections won by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD).
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